Danger warning! I failed my fire drill.

• Author: Harrington, Susan
• Position: FROM THE EDITOR - Editorial

After rushing to Over the Rainbow to get a last minute birthday gift for a neighbor's party that started in half an hour, I returned home twenty minutes later to find the ground level floor of my home full of smoke.

Like an idiot I ventured in and began looking for the source of the smoke. First though, I walked through and opened the back door to air out the place because of the floating, layered haze of black smoke. It smelled like an electrical fire. Then I ran frantically upstairs and down searching for flames. As the smoke was clearing I isolated the source to the washing machine and dialed 911.

The emergency operator transferred me to the Anchorage Fire Department dispatch, and as she was getting details, she asked me if I was in the house. I was. She told me to go outside immediately and not to go back inside. I did. Soon, all the neighbors were outside too.

In just a couple of minutes I heard the sirens as the firefighters headed to my house from Station 9. The Anchorage Fire Department showed up in force almost immediately. Two ladder trucks, a tanker, an emergency vehicle, and an Anchorage Police Department cruiser delighted and fascinated all the neighbor kids, while worrying all the parents and adults.

Several firemen went methodically from room to room upstairs and down and found nothing but my messy house. After determining my washing machine motor burned up and that no fire had spread into the walls, they departed just as quickly as they showed up. I was left with a great sense of relief that my home wasn't on fire--also much gratitude that...